Relegation candidates always seem to perform much better during the last few games of the season. We often see dramatic great escapes from the likes of Sunderland and Newcastle, which leads to an increase in goals, assists and clean sheets from unexpected low-owned players.
This article will take a look at the last two campaigns to find out whether Premier League relegation batters are a good place to look for season run in differentials.
I have decided to review the averages statistics of relegation battlers in 2015 and 2016 Gameweek 32-28 vs Gameweek 1-38
Teams
2014/2015 Sunderland. Aston Villa, Hull and Burnley
2015/2016 Sunderland, Newcastle and Norwich
2015/2016
| Average goals per game | Average conceded per game | Average clean sheets per game | ||||||
| GW 32-38 | GW 1-38 | GW 32-38 | GW 1-38 | GW 32-38 | GW 1-38 | |||
| Sunderland | 1.71 | 1.26 | 1 | 1.63 | 0.43 | 0.18 | ||
| Newcastle | 1.86 | 1.16 | 1 | 1.71 | 0.43 | 0.21 | ||
| Norwich | 1.00 | 1.03 | 1.86 | 1.76 | 0.00 | 0.13 | ||
Summary
The statistics were more comprehensive than I expected when indicating improved performance at the season end. Newcastle and Sunderland would of scored nearly 70 goals if they had maintained their goal scoring form over the season and only just behind Chelsea 73 and Arsenal 71. The clean sheets chance also considerably improved to 16, which is only one behind Chelsea.
2014/2015
| Average goals per game | Average conceded per game | Average clean sheets per game | ||||||
| GW 32-38 | GW 1-38 | GW 32-38 | GW 1-38 | GW 32-38 | GW 1-38 | |||
| Sunderland | 1 | 0.82 | 1.29 | 1.39 | 0.43 | 0.34 | ||
| Aston Villa | 1.57 | 0.82 | 2.14 | 1.50 | 0.29 | 0.26 | ||
| Hull | 0.57 | 0.87 | 1.14 | 1.34 | 0.43 | 0.26 | ||
| Burnley | 0.29 | 0.74 | 0.57 | 1.39 | 0.43 | 0.26 | ||
Summary
A similar picture is painted, with Aston Villa nearly doubling their goals output from 0.82 to 1.57 goals per game, which equates to a potential 59 goals over a season ( top four performance levels). The three clean sheets out of seven for Sunderland, Villa and Burnley are double their average and are at a title winning level if maintained over a season.
Conclusion
I think based on the results that looking beyond the top four teams over the remaining games could be vital in catching our mini league leaders. There are risks with this as a strategy as you may miss out on high owned players points and this would have a more negative impact on your overall rank not just your mini-league.
A key conclusion is the improved defensive returns among relegation scrappers, which indicates defenders from Middlesbrough, Swansea, Hull and Sunderland could be key differentials for those looking to catch mini-league leaders.
Player Recommendations
Hull – Maguire, Robertson, Clucas, Hernandez and Markovic
Sunderland- Pickford, Kone, Denayer, Janzaj and Anichebe
Middlesbourgh- Brannagan, Gibson, Valdes, De Roon and Negredo
Swansea – Fabianski, Naughton, Fer and of course Sigurdsson
